Project Title

Financial Aid as a Recruitment Tool for Transfer Students

Project Abstract

The Tennessee Promise is a last-dollar scholarship program offering tuition-free associate's degrees to qualified students who enroll at participating two-year, four-year, and TCAT institutions. Promise is part of a larger free-tuition movement where local and state programs are launching nationwide. The implementation of Promise has served as a catalyst for administrators at four-year colleges and universities to evaluate necessary structural changes necessary to accommodate a shifting student population. One area where higher education administrators have seen change, due to the impact of Tennessee Promise, is in financial aid services. The presenters explored how administrators at three private liberal arts colleges and four public-assisted regional universities responded to the need for structural change, as defined by Buller (2014) and Kezar (2013), framed through the delivery of financial aid services. Attendees will learn up-to-date information on the current state of free tuition movement, including Tennessee Promise. Attendees will gain an understanding of how the roles and services associated with financial aid have adapted to a highly competitive landscape focused on enrolling proportionally more transfer students. Attendees will share best practices on how to improve institutional financial aid and scholarship services to better accommodate the interests of prospective transfer students.

Conference

The National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students is hosting their 2018 conference from February 7 to February 9, 2018. in Atlanta, GA.